Posts from the ‘Recipes’ Category

For people with certain dietary restrictions and food allergies, eggs can be an essential part of a healthy diet. Recently, we’ve been experimenting with a ‘no’ carbohydrate/high protein diet known as the Paleo diet, and lucky for us eggs are on the menu! Interestingly, we have many friends who are vegetarians and they chuckle at the idea of a ‘caveman’ diet, after all, it does sound pretty meaty doesn’t it? ‘-) Fortunately, between fruits, vegetables and eggs, we can still share a meal with those same meat-shunning friends.

We all know that eggs are a great source of protein and yes, eggs are high in cholesterol, but they are also low in saturated fats and rich in hard to find nutrients such as vitamin D (in the yolks) and choline. And remember, eggs from pastured birds are proven to be healthier and more nutritious than traditionally produced eggs.

Basic egg muffin recipes ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

8 – 10 pastured eggs

1/4 cup milk (almond milk is a great substitute if dairy is not in your diet)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with shortening of choice

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt and pepper and milk

Use a measuring cup to fill muffin wells with egg mixture, about 1/4 cup each

Bake the egg muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle, cool on rack 5 minutes before serving

Variations:

Feel free to mix and add other ingredients as you desire, and as your diet permits. You can add things like cheese, fresh herbs, seasonal vegetables and meats or meat substitute and even smoked fish. Need some ideas? Here are a few egg muffin recipes we really like:

As summer draws to a close, there is at least one thing to look forward to; fresh eggs. After all, it’s probably been about 20 weeks since you got those really cute little baby chicks, and depending on which breed(s) made up that Spring flock, they should be getting ready to begin laying any day now, if they haven’t already.

Soon, you’ll have more eggs than you know what to do with, so we’ve decided to celebrate the bounty of those delicious eggs with a roll-up of our last years’ 12 recipes. Enjoy!

Poaching eggs is one of the easiest and healthiest ways of preparing eggs, as you don’t need butter or oil to cook with. And poached eggs make great additions to everything from salads and steamed vegetables, to breakfast, soups or simply served with toast and a little salt and pepper.

When poaching eggs, it’s best to start with farm fresh eggs; in fact, the fresher the egg the better it will poach because its albumen (aka white) is thicker. According to WikiHow, “an egg straight from the chicken will poach without any need for vinegar as it will coagulate immediately.”

Of course there are varying opinions and our methods for how to best poach an egg, I found this WikiHow tutorial to be the most comprehensive and filled with great photos.

Also consider using milk, broth, tomato juice, wine, or even a pot of simmering soup as an alternative for poaching water, as eggs can absorb the color and flavor from other liquids used. Listed below are several classic recipes that use poached eggs in them, fell free to send us a note if you have any other suggestions.

Simply put, pickled eggs are hard boiled eggs preserved in a pickling solution. And while often considered ‘bar food’, pickled eggs are actually a tasty method of storing and preserving the bounty of eggs today for the eating enjoyment of eggs tomorrow – or in this case, a couple of weeks.

“Pickling is, of course, a centuries-old method of preserving a wide range of foods. Eggs are pickled the world round, but they seem to have first become a barroom staple in pubs in the industrial north of England as part of the 19th-century ploughman’s (or peasant’s) lunch. They caught on because they were cheap (and) they did not spoil …” www.esquire.com

There are hundreds of different recipes out there and I’ve provided links to a few below. Recipes vary from the traditional brine solution used for pickles to other more exotic and international solutions, which can impart a sweet or spicy taste. The final egg taste is largely determined by the pickling solution and the amount of time the eggs are left to pickle.

One of the most popular recipes originates from the Pennsylvania Dutch, pickled beet eggs or red beet eggs, includes whole beets in the pickling solution to impart a pink or red color to the eggs.

*Simmer the chopped beets in a cup of water, covered, until tender, 30-40 minutes, or used canned beets. Use the beet juice from the cooking water, or the juice from canned beets.

Hard-boil the eggs, let them cool then remove the shells and place in quart sized glass jar. (Tip; It’s best to use a tall jar as it takes less liquid to cover them than when using a wide bowl.)

Combine beet juice, vinegar, sugar and spices in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; stiruntil sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Pour mixture over eggs in the jar, place some or all of the cooked beets in the jar (optional). Cover tightly. Let eggs sit for two days before eating, the longer the eggs marinate in the liquid, the darker the color and stronger the flavor will be. (Tip; Prolonged exposure to the pickling solution may result in a rubbery egg texture.)